Local

Family seeks answers two years after daughter's killing

SALISBURY, N.C. — A grieving family is still searching for answers -- two years to the day that their daughter was killed.

Dee Rios was shot while working at a convenience store in Rowan County.

The grief is still very raw for Rios' mother.

With one of her daughters translating, Alicia de la Cruz told Channel 9 why she made a point to visit Rios' grave.

"It’s very important to me because it's the day I get to remember my daughter,” she said.

On Nov.  10, 2010, 20-year-old Rios was working at a small convenience store in Spencer.  Soon after she opened the store, a gunman came in and shot her.

The store owner told Channel 9 that Rios wasn't supposed to be working that morning, but she wanted to pick up more hours to help her family members.

"It's just a way of letting her know -- her more than anything - that we love her and we miss her and life's not the same without her,” her mother said.

After the shooting, police released sketches of a person of interest and a bail bondsman put up money for a reward in this case.

However, police still haven't made any arrests. Rios' family is frustrated by the lack of progress, knowing the killer is still out there.

"It's an injustice what they did.  They took a life.  They took so much from my mom, from me, from my brothers, from everything,” Cruz said.

Police said they recently got crime scene tests back from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and they're still reviewing them.